The use of ceiling fans has increased in response to increased costs for cooling and heating of homes, offices, restaurants, and like facilities. Operation of the ceiling fans stirs the air and causes the air to circulate. Warmed air that collects near the ceiling moves to the floor; cool air that collects near the floor moves to the ceiling. Such circulation of air makes more effective use of the heated or cooled air. Movement of the air further distributes odors and smells that may occur in a room. Such odors may arise from cooking of foods, burning wood in fireplaces, smoking cigarettes and pipes, and the like. Often it is desirable to deodorize a room to eliminate such obnoxious odors. In other circumstances, a pleasant odor may provide simply a refreshing atmosphere for a room in which persons gather.
There are devices in the prior art which cooperate with ceiling fans to deodorize the air of a room. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,898 issued to Glaser describes an air freshener dispenser with a mounting element that is fixed to a fan blade by an adhesive. A case releasably joins with a hook-and-loop fastener to the mounting element. The case contains an air freshening material. Slots in the case expose the air freshening material to the air in the room.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,819 issued to Murcin et al describes a deodorizing device which clips to a fan blade to hold a scent package thereon. A pair of U-shaped clip members have legs that terminate in U-shaped end portions. The end portions surmount about the lateral edges of a fan blade. Spring members or straps connect between the clip members and overlie the air freshener package which contains a scent.
While accomplishing the goal of deodorizing the air in a room, these devices still have drawbacks. The devices are securely fixed to the fan blade, such as with adhesive, springs, or straps. Such attachment may require special installation or assembly of parts for removably fixing the device. Improper positioning of a device may create an imbalance for the fan, resulting in wobble and in erratic performance. A device fixed with adhesive may be difficult to remove and reposition. A device removedly fixed with springs requires assembly of interlocking parts which slidingly engage the lateral edges of the fan blade. The scent package must be properly positioned with the springs to assure that the package does not fly off during operation of the fan.
Springs or elastomeric straps, however, may permit the device to slide outwardly during high rotation of the fan. Slippage of a device on one fan blade may cause the fan to become unbalanced during operation. An unbalanced fan risks damage to the fan or nearby articles or possible injury to persons.
The scent material must also be replaced after exhaustion. In some prior art devices, replacement of the scent material involves removal of the old spent case and installation of a new case fitted with scent material. For another device, replacement of the scent material may require partial disassembly of the device.
Therefore there is a need in the art for an air freshener that mounts easily to a fan blade and that facilitates replacement of the scent material.